Panel-mounted ash receptacle and cigarette extinguisher



Aug. 28, 19 6 A. D. CAMPBELL PANEL-MOUNTED ASH RECEPTACLE AND CIGARETTE EXTINGUISHER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 1, 1955 INVENTOR. AVERY D. CAMPBELL ATTozNE'Ys g- 28, 1955 A. D. CAMPBELL 2,760,497

PANEL-MOUNTED ASH RECEPTACLE AND CIGARETTE EXTINGUISHER Filed July 1, 1955 4 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Elg-4= J \7 I 26 I I- 27 2 23 i l'sqszz/ f x k 42 i i Y' 6 )V E m5 1 IMIH;

IN VEN TOR.

AVERY DC CAMPBELL.

ATT RNEYS 2,766,457 Patented Aug. 28, 1956 PANEL-MOUNTED ASH RECEPTACLE AND CIGTTE EXTINGUISHER Avery D. Campbell, Tishomingo, Miss.

Application July 1, 1955, Serial No. 519,410

3 Claims. (Cl. 131-237) The present invention relates to ash receptacles having means for extinguishing cigarettes.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide an ash receptacle or an ashtray for mounting in the instrument panel of a vehicle having an automaticallyoperated cigarette extinguisher.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an ash receptacle or ashtray having an extinguisher for cigarettes therein including an anvil against which the cigarette is crushed and having means for removing the crushed cigarettes from the anvil.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an ash receptacle or ashtray for mounting in the instrument panel in a vehicle which is easily and quickly secured thereto in an opening provided therein, which is of simple structure, sturdy in construction, economical to manufacture and assemble and which is highly effective in action.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be fully apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the annexed drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an isometric view partially shown in section of the ash receptacle and cigarette extinguisher of the present invention as installed in an opening in an instrument panel,

Figure 2 is a transverse central section, greatly enlarged, taken on the line 22 of Figure 1 showing the receptacle in open condition to receive a cigarette,

Figure 3 is an end view partially in cross section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the receptacle in closed position and in a position in which a cigarette is crushed,

Figure 5 is a top view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 2,

Figure 6 is a sectional view on line 6--6 of Figure 4, and

Figure 7 is a sectional view on line 7-7 of Figure 4.

Referring in greater detail to the drawings in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, the present invention consists in a receptacle or ashtray and a cigarette extinguisher indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, mounted in an opening 11 in a vertically-disposed instrument panel 12 of a vehicle. The receptacle and extinguisher comprises an L-shaped frame 13 having its long leg 14 extending horizontally and perpendicularly to the rear side of the panel 12 and with the short leg 15 of the frame extending upwardly and perpendicular to the long leg and spaced from the panel. The short leg 15 of the frame 13 is bifurcated as seen in Figures 1, 3, and 7. The free end of the long leg 14 is welded or otherwise secured to the panel 12 below the opening 11 therein.

A receptacle or tray indicated generally by the reference numeral 16 having an upstanding front wall 17, a rear wall 18 inclined to the vertical, a bottom wall 19, and side walls 20 and 21, is positioned in vertical spaced relation with respect to the long leg 14 of the frame 13 with its front wall 17 adjacent the panel opening and normally bridging and closing the latter and with the rear wall inwardly of and spaced therefrom.

The portion 22 of the front wall 17 adjacent the bottom wall 19 is formed as an inverted V and extends across the bottom of the tray and straddles the adjacent edge 23 of the panel for rocking or swinging movement of the tray 16 from the position with its front wall closing the opening as in Figure 4 to an angled position swung outwardly of the panel opening exposing the open top of the tray 16 as seen in Figures 1 and 2.

Within the tray 16 is a fixed anvil 24 having its upper end connected to the front wall 17 and its side edges connected to the side walls 20 and 21 and having its lower end sloping rearwardly toward the bottom wall 19 of the tray. A plate 25 of approximately the same size as the anvil forms another and movable anvil and has the lower end of each of its sides connected to one leg of the adjacent one of a pair of L-shaped brackets 26, each of the latter being pivotally connected at one end of the other leg to the adjacent side wall 20 or 21 by a transversely extending bar 27 for swinging movement of the plate 25 from the position abutting the anvil 24 (Figure 4) to a position spaced from the anvil 24 (Figure 2) and with its upper end contacting a flange or bumper 28 on the upper end of the rear wall 18. The ends of the bar 27 are received in holes provided in the side Walls 20- and 21. A pair of springs 25' shown in Fig. 7 bias the plate 25 to the position spaced from the anvil 24.

Means is provided for causing the plate 25 to move relative to the anvil 24 when the tray 16 is pulled' forwardly of the panel and consists of a spring steel member 29-having the intermediate portion 30 extending through a hole in the rear wall 18 and having one T-shaped end 31 as seen in Figs; 2 and 6 is anchored for pivotal movement in loops 32 projecting from the rear face of the plate 25. The other T-shaped end 33 of the member 29 as shown in Figs. 2 and 7 is anchored in holes in the bifurcated short leg 15 of the frame 13.

Another similarly shaped spring steel member 34 has one end 35 anchored for pivotal movement in the short leg 15 and has the other end 36 anchored for pivotal movement in loops 37 provided on the rear portion of the top surface of a cover 38 which extends over the top of the tray 16 and serves to bridge the forward end of the latter when the front wall 17 of the tray is in its position closing the panel opening, as seen in Figure 4. A coil spring 39 biases the cover 38 into sliding engagement with the upper edges of the side walls 20 and 21 and as seen in Fig. 2 with the members 28 and 12. As seen in Figure 4, the cover 38 has an angled under face which fits on the angled portions 40 and 41 of the side walls 20 and 21 respectively, and when the tray is in its closed position the cover 38 serves to restrain the outward movement of the tray from the opening in the panel.

The forward end of the bottom 19 of the tray is provided with a hinged clean-out door 42 pivotally connected to one end of a pair of straps 43 which have their other ends anchored in the side walls 20 and 21, as seen most clearly in Figure 1. A bail 44 extends across the bottom 19 and serves to secure the door 42 in the closed position, the bail itself being adapted to be swung to a dotted line position shown in Figure 4 to permit the door to swing downwardly to the position shown in dotted lines and indicated by the reference. numeral 42 in that figure. It is to be noted that swinging of the bail 44 from the full line position of Figures 1 and 2 to the phantom line position indicated by the numeral 60 in Figure 4 permits the door 42 to drop to the dumping position designated by the numeral 42 indicating the dotted line position in 16 are collected in a receptacle held by the person operating the bail 44.

Means is provided for scraping crushed cigarettes from the anvil 24 and for moving any cigarette placed within the tray to a point at which it can be crushed by the plate 25 and consists of a bar 45 extending across the anvil 24 adjacent the upper end of the latter and con nected to the adjacent one ends of the wires 46 and 47, the latter being adjacent the side walls and 21, respectively. The wires 46 and 47 are guided in loops 48, as seen in Figure 5. The other ends of the wires 46 and 47 are hooked in openings in the one ends of levers 49 and 50, the other ends of the latter being connected by a transversely arranged bar 51.

A semi-rigid wire strand 52 extends through the front wall 17 with a knob 53 on its projecting end and having its other end wound around the bar 51. Springs 54 bias the levers 49 and 59 to the position at which the bar 45 is adjacent the upper end of the anvil. The strand 52 may be pulled to the dotted line position in Figure 2 indicated by reference numeral 52 to cause the bar 45 to move to the dotted line position indicated by the reference numeral 45', scraping the anvil upper end and pushing crushed cigarettes toward the bottom of the tray ofi the anvil.

A handle 55 on the front wall 17 provides a finger grip so that the front Wall 17 of the tray 16 may be pulled forwardly to the position at, shown in Figure 2, an angle with respect to panel 12 and away from the opening therein, exposing the open top of the receptacle or tray for the receipt of a cigarette thereto. Upon closing movement of the front wall 17, the anvil 24 is pushed into abutting engagement with the plate crushing the cigarettes resting thereon, the springiness of the member 29 providing sufficient resilience so that the front wall 17 may be closed within the opening in the panel 12 whether or not there are any cigarettes interposed between the plate 25 and the anvil 24.

When desiring to mount the cigarette extinguisher and ash receptacle of the present invention in the opening 11 of the panel 12, the spring steel members 29 and 34 are disconnected from the short leg 15 of the L-shaped frame 13, and the entire assembly is then inserted from behind the panel 12 through the opening 11 until the inverted V-portion 22 is setting upon the edge 23 of the panel 12, whereupon the ends 33 and 35 of the spring members 29 and 34 are connected to the short leg 15 of the L- shaped frame 13, and thence the spring 39 is connected to the intermediate portion of the spring member 29 at the adjacent portion of the spring member 34.

What is claimed is:

l. The combination with a vertically-disposed panel having an opening therein, of a cigarette extinguisher and ash receptacle including a bottom wall, side walls, and an upstanding front wall positioned so that the front wall bridges and closes the panel opening and is connected to the panel for movement from a position in which its front wall closes the panel opening to a position in which the front wall projects at an angle outwardly of the panel opening, a fixed anvil disposed within said receptacle and sloping downwardly and inwardly from the upper end of the front wall thereof, another anvil positioned within said receptacle in abutting engagement with said fixed anvil when the front wall of the receptacle is in its position closing the panel opening and movable to a position away from said fixed anvil upon execution of a movement of said receptacle from its position in which the receptacle front wall closes said panel opening to a position in which the receptacle front wall projects outwardly of the panel opening, a clean-out door extending between the forward end of said bottom wall and the lower end of said front wall and normally closing the space between the forward end of said bottom wall and the lower end of said front wall and having the end adjacent the front wall connected to said side walls for hinged movement about a horizontal axis, and means normally engaging the other end of said door to hold the latter in the closing position and swingably connected to said side walls for movement out of engagement with the other end of said door and permit movement of said door to a dumping position.

2. The combination with a vertically-disposed panel having an opening therein, of a cigarette extinguisher and ash receptacle including a bottom wall, side walls, and an upstanding front wall positioned so that the front wall bridges and closes the panel opening and is connected to the panel for movement from a position in which its front wall closes the panel opening to a position in which the front wall projects at an angle outwardly of the said panel opening, a fixed anvil disposed within said receptacle and sloping downwardly and inwardly from the upper end of the front wall thereof, another anvil positioned within said receptacle in abutting engagement with said fixed anvil when the front wall of the receptacle is in its position closing the panel opening and movable to a position away from said fixed anvil upon execution of a movement of said receptacle from its position in which the receptacle front wall closes said panel opening to a position in which the receptacle front wall projects outwardly of said panel opening, spring means biasing said movable anvil to a position away from said fixed anvil, a clean-out door extending between the forward end of said bottom Wall and the lower end of said front wall and normally closing the space between the forward end of said bottom wall and the lower end of said front wall and having the end adjacent the front wall connected to said side walls for hinged movement about a horizontal axis, and means normally engaging the other end of said door to hold the latter in the closing position and swingably connected to said side walls for movement out of engagement with the other end of said door to permit movement of said door to a dumping position.

3. The combination with a vertically-disposed panel having an opening therein, of a cigarette extinguisher and ash receptacle including an upstanding front wall positioned so that the front wall bridges and closes the panel opening and is connected to the panel for movement from the position in which its front wall closes the panel opening to a position in which the front wall projects at an angle outwardly of said panel opening, a fixed anvil disposed within said receptacle and sloping downwardly and inwardly from the upper end of the front wall thereof, another anvil positioned within said receptacle and in abutting relation with said'fixed anvil when the front wall of the receptacle is in its position closing the panel opening and movable to a position away from said fixed anvil upon execution of a movement of said receptacle from its position in which the receptacle front wall closes said panel opening to a position in which the receptacle front wall projects outwardly of said panel opening, scraping means slidably mounted on said fixed anvil adapted to dislodge crushed cigarettes therefrom, and manually-operable means operatively connected to said scraping means for effecting the movement of the latter.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,626,615 Buroker Jan. 27, 1953 2,626,616 Buroker Jan. 27, 1953 2,660,180 Endicott et a1 Nov. 24, 1953 

